North Star Campground

Quiet Campground with about 8 lakeside spots and many spacious sites for all size rigs. Very helpful camp hosts and fun activities nearby.

This was our second attempt to stay at this campground. Our first attempt last year was thwarted by our unfortunate choice of dates. Last year we planned our stay for the weekend after Labor Day, thinking the campground would be quieter, and indeed it was. It was closed. So this year we planned our stay for earlier in the season, and are we ever glad we did.

This National Forest Campground is nested right along the shore of Northstar Lake in Minnesota's beautiful Itasca
County. True, it doesn't have any electric hookup sites, but depending upon the time of year you plan your stay, you probably won't need to run an air conditioner anyway.

The campground has a total of six lakeshore sites available on a first come, first served basis. Four are located in the North loop, and two in the South. We arrived on a Thursday and there was only one site available in the North loop, (34) so that's the one we stayed in. But really, none of the lakeshore access sites are that much better than any of the others, so take whichever one is available.

Other than the lakeshore sites, most of the rest of the campground remained pretty empty during our stay, even over the weekend. In fact, two of the other lakeshore access sites came open during the first weekend of our stay, so we could have easily moved if we wanted, but didn't really feel a need.

Access to the lakeshore from the campsites is provided by wood staircases, the length of which depends upon the campsite. Campsite views of the lake are somewhat obscured by trees, but a short decent of the staircase takes you right to the lakeshore and a wooden bench for sitting, reading, or otherwise contemplating the meaning of life. And for those of you who are boaters of either the small kayak/canoe, or larger powerboat variety, there is more than enough room to tie up your boat. A public access boat launch is available just down the road for the boats in the larger variety category.

With all the pluses there are of course some minuses to every campground. Here I would say the biggest minus is the mosquitoes. Remember, this is Minnesota, and as the mosquito is the state bird, there are many around. Although we didn't experience much of a problem with them until after the sun went down. Just be sure to bring the bug spray if you plan on spending any time outside after dark.

Another small minus is that some of your neighbors with larger rigs will likely be running their generators from time to time. The campground rules allow for their operation from 8am to 10pm, and I didn't observe anyone breaking these rules, so running generators won't keep you up at night at least.

So, would we stay here again? Most definitely. In fact it is going on our short list of campgrounds deserving of another visit.